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Themes of good versus evil essay
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In Western horror, the distinction between good and evil is strictly enforced; the “evil” antagonist always haunts and is defeated by the “good” protagonist. In the Oxford English Dictionary, for spirits to haunt is to “visit frequently and habitually with manifestations of their influence and presence, usually of a molesting kind” (“Haunt.”). This definition further puts into perspective the Western view on haunting; spirits are usually depicted as an abusive entity. In Eden Robinson’s Monkey Beach, the Little Man’s motivations remain ambiguous throughout the novel, and he both comforts as well as haunts Lisamarie. The Little Man’s complex character and his multilayered relationship with Lisamarie demonstrate that good and evil are not necessarily
Cal, the son of Adam Trask, struggles with the idea that he inherited his mother, Cathy’s, evil. Cal displays this evil by taking advantage of the Post-World War One economy, and stealing beans from hardworking farmers so that he can sell them for cheaper prices. “East of Eden” ends with Adam forgiving Cal of his wrongdoings. However, this happy ending is followed by the haunting idea that future generations will make the same mistakes, and follow the same path of good and evil, that Cal and his ancestors have.
In East of Eden Steinbeck turns back to the ideals of the bible through some of his characters. A Lot of the bible ideas come with Adam Trask and the timshel he carries throughout the story. Adam's virtue comes into to help free his son Cal. In the story the Men view themselves as part of the natural world. Cal, felt since his mother was bad he had to follow her steps.
In John Steinbeck’s novel, East of Eden, the author explores mankind’s endeavor to overcome internal and worldly evil by utilizing biblical allusions and circular prose. One can infer that the novel is a great biblical allusion with the story of Cain and Abel from the Book of Genesis being a reoccurring insinuation. Steinbeck applies these biblical allusions to specify the moral and immoral characters in his novel. For example, Charles Trask receives a “long and crinkled scar” on his forehead that “turns dark brown” while he is filled with a malevolent rage (46). Later on in the story, Cathy Ames is also marked with a scar during a grisly altercation with the pimp she was exploiting.
From a young age, Steinbeck had encountered many hardships. Based off a few of his hardships, he created his novel East of Eden. It is told through the eyes of Olivia Hamilton’s son, who is as everyone comes to realize, John Steinbeck himself. Through Steinbeck’s experiences, the reader learns about two generations who deal with evil goodness within their families.
Adam and Eve had a perfect Garden of Eden, until Eve ate the apple and contaminated the garden. In being tricked by the snake, Eve betrayed God’s word. Mankind has often betrayed others because of the darkness in their heart. In A Separate Peace, John Knowles uses Phineas as a sacrificial lamb to portray Gene’s savage side and demonstrate that peace can never be achieved at a worldwide level until man accepts the darkness in his own heart.
East of Eden, by John Steinbeck, reflects the complexities in father/son relationships. The connection between a father and his son is vital to their development. The novel explores the impact of these relations is immense. The central allusion of the novel is comparing several characters to Cain and Abel, who were formed through their attempted relationship with their father-like figure, God. They struggled and vied for the attention, love, and respect of God, which subconsciously influenced their actions and thoughts.
Walter Cronkite, a famous American broadcast journalist, once said, “In seeking truth you have to get both sides of a story.” John Steinbeck, a famous American author, further proves this idea in his novel, East of Eden. The novel follows the lives of two very different families, the Hamiltons and the Trasks, in correlation to the history of the United States. Major ideas regarding the free will of an individual and predestined or chosen morals are continuously argued throughout the story. Critics, such as Peter Lisca in his article The Wide World of John Steinbeck, state that these contradictory messages along with a variety of other factors play into the “distracting” and “unintegrated” aspect of the members of the Hamilton family.
It is difficult to interpret Steinbeck’s true motive with the creation of Cathy Ames, but it is clear that Cathy’s actions make her different from most other women in this time period. She often uses her boldness and self-assurance to manipulate mens’ desires for her own gain; even at a young age she knew that sexuality “… is the most disturbing impulse humans have” (75). While her intentions are evil, her assertiveness is almost refreshing in contrast to most of the other reserved female characters in East of Eden. However, Cathy’s rejection of motherhood and her dominance over men is often portrayed as dishonorable, and Cathy is villainized without “the potential of a conscience” (72).
In Of Mice And Men, George and Lennie were very close due to the fact that George looks after Lennie. They form almost a parent and child bond. Lennie does not know his own strength and continuously kills small animals that he wants to care for and pet. Lennie not knowing his own strength is developed further when Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s Wife. Lennie was stroking Curley’s Wife’s hair to the point that she became alarmed and panicked and when she did so, Lennie broke her neck by shaking her too hard, he wanted her to stop yelling.
Explore the ways writers present ideas about the good and bad in people. John Steinbeck wrote ‘Of Mice and Men’ using various language and structure techniques to present ideas about the good and bad in people with minimal narration over the entire novel rather than Steinbeck presenting his ideas about each character. Instead, the author written the novel without personal commentary or much narrative insight; he never actually tells us what the character thinks or their mind and how they feel all the time, more precisely, he exposes the characters through their actions and speech. Steinbeck has written this novel originally as a play: this explains the structure of the novel such as his use of a circular pattern of locations, condensed narration, minimal action descriptions, and foreshadowing to connect his plot. Steinbeck uses imagery related to the nature and specifically animals in the novella ‘Of Mice and Men’ to show the good and bad in people.
East of Eden East of Eden by John Steinbeck was an interesting read for the summer. In the beginning it was quite odd as there was a sort of flashback in the beginning. Soon Adam’s childhood story is told and how his brother and he didn’t get along too well nor did they with their demanding and quite bizarre father. In fact, the father was a really interesting part that stayed with me.
Without any grown-ups around, the boys are left to battle for and represent themselves. The young men utilize a conch shell as a talking stick, and Ralph, one of the more established young men, gets to be "chief." And then trouble starts. They 're anxious about a "monster" some place on the island, and afterward they choose to make a sign flame using the glasses of a kid named Piggy as opposed to keeping up the flame. The longer they 're on the island, the more savage they become.
It is noteworthy that this story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is the foundation of the religion with the largest number of followers worldwide. Why does it continue to resonate with so many people even today? The reason is that this utopia contains archetypes that reflect the collective unconscious that is found across all cultures. This is the result of universal themes in this story about humanity’s needs and desires that we still see occurring in our society today. The story of Genesis contains three archetypal characteristics that illustrate these patterns that still demonstrate humanity’s needs.
The garden may be lovely but that is not enough, for if something is forbidden then that is what we seek. The knowledge of good and evil was forbidden for the intention of the Creator was for humanity to rejoice in singleness of vision. It is precisely the loss of that singleness, so Genesis suggests, that makes us people with divergent possibilities – but also with the richness of experience that makes us interesting and creative. Adam was taken to be a historical figure who begets a marred humanity.
